


Unravelling

by ficwriter103



Category: Alice: Madness Returns, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Child Abuse, Dissociation, Dubious Consent, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mind Fuck, Sexual Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-02
Updated: 2013-05-02
Packaged: 2017-12-10 05:02:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/782089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ficwriter103/pseuds/ficwriter103
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Who are you, anyway?” the boy asked sullenly, falling into step behind Loki.</p><p>“Loki Odinson. Resident psychopath” Loki replied easily.</p><p>To his utmost annoyance, the boy followed him.</p><p>“I expected crazy people to look crazier.” He said inquisitively. “You’re alright, for a psycho.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unravelling

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings in alphabetical order: Abuse of Authority, Child Abuse, Child Pornography, Description of on the fly Medical Procedures, Dissociation, Drug Use, Dub-con, Mental Disorders, Mild Gore, Murder, Implied Non-Con, Psychosis, Unauthorized Psychiatric Treatment
> 
> A/N:  
> Unbeta-ed perversion of the prompt: http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/9218.html?thread=21215234. This is my first long fic so um, be gentle.

Loki stood before the chaos. How many times had he done this already? This was the fourth, fifth time, he had launched an attack in this month. There wasn’t much planning behind this one. He just wanted to destroy a few things, steal some nice clothes and watch people panic.

 

The man he knew as Tony Stark staring at him. Loki raised a hand to flick it at the engineer but Stark rolled his eyes.

 

“Oh Loki, not now! I can’t be bothered now Loki!” The man grumbled. The phrase made Loki pause.

 

He couldn’t be bothered? How dare Stark? Loki was the God of Mischief and Chaos! No one ignored him! Couldn’t be bothered? Couldn’t be!

 

Loki raised his sceptre and brought it down, blasting the building behind Stark. Bits of concrete came collapsing down. Stark activated his blasters and flew away. Loki was so engrossed in watching Stark go that he didn’t notice the falling beam.

 

There was a burst of stars in front of his eyes and he knew no more.

 

 

 

 

“Loki? Don’t go wandering around outside!” The matron scolded him. Loki stared at her.  His head hurt. The matron was wrapping bandages around his head, telling him off for going through the construction sites again. There was a child peeking in at Loki from the door. She was a tiny thing with fiery red hair.

 

“Madison, go get the scissors.” The matron said. The child shuffled in, eyes wide in a pixie face, and handed over the scissors. She didn’t stop staring at Loki as the matron taped the bandage in place. The matron handed him a painkiller and sent him off to see the counsellor. Loki couldn’t help but feel strange as Madison followed two steps behind him.

 

“Is it true you killed your brother?” She asked at last. Loki turned to look at her. A flash of red, the handle in his hands, that was all he remembered.

 

“No comment.” Loki replied. She tugged on his pant leg.

 

“I killed my hamster.” She told him. “I didn’t mean it.” She added.

 

Loki shrugged her off with a snarl of annoyance.

 

“Get lost Mad. Or whatever your name is.” He bared his teeth at her but she didn’t even flinch, only slunk into the shadows of the greying mansion. Loki watched her red hair disappear into the darkness. The stark bright colour of it tugged on something at the edges of his mind. Warm slick blood running down his fingers to pool on the floor, overwhelming fear as the man approached. He didn’t understand it.

 

He shivered and the thought was gone.

 

Dr. Ross wasn’t sitting in the chair when Loki got to the room though. It was a younger man who was spinning the globe in the study.

 

“Hello, Loki.” He said. “I will be taking over for Dr. Ross for a while.”

 

“What happened?” Loki asked, nonplussed. Dr. Ross had been his psychiatrist since forever. He did NOT want to have a new one.

 

“He had a car accident this morning, driving down from the city. It wasn’t that bad, a sprained ankle, cracked ribs and a mild concussion.” The young man said soothingly. He smiled at Loki. Loki wanted to slap him.

 

“When he’ll be back?” Loki asked.

 

“Four weeks? Eight, at the most. He’s not so young, you know. You can call me Dr. Coulson. Please, take a seat.” He gestured to the couch. Loki shuffled over, mutiny in his head and sat.

 

“What can you tell me about yourself, Loki?” Dr. Coulson asked. Loki looked him over, taking note of the hairline which seemed to be receding, the smart immaculate suit and the pen tucked into one pocket.

 

“Nothing you haven’t read in the files.” Loki replied, keeping his face blank. There wasn’t anything he wanted to say.

 

“Well, I just got here an hour ago and I haven’t had a chance to read it,” Dr. Coulson said, sounding as if he was truly sorry for offending Loki. He wandered over to the files and rummaged through them, pulling out one. “Files do tend to be very impersonal. I don’t like to be too impersonal.” Dr. Coulson commented. His brow furrowed as his eyes travelled across the words.

 

“The medication you’re on is quite strong, Loki.” Dr. Coulson observed with a frown. “It’s a little too much for you. It’ll take a toll on your body.”

 

Loki didn’t care. The stronger, the better. Less chance of accidentally killing someone else.

 

“Well, we’ll put you on something different and see if that’s alright, okay?” Dr. Coulson gave him an encouraging smile. “Just to let your body flush its system out for a while.”

 

“I don’t like different.” Loki bit out.

 

“Different denotes neither bad nor good,” Dr. Coulson said soothingly. Loki gave him a disbelieving look that had him hastening to continue “But it certainly means 'not the same’. Who knows, the new meds may work better than the old ones.”

 

Loki sank down a little on the squishy couch, toying with the fraying ends. Dr. Coulson wrote something in the files and handed him a tiny bottle of pills. The ones he always took were capsules. The nurses used to have to take them apart and dissolve them in water because Loki couldn’t swallow very well. These new ones were tiny white pills.

 

Loki shook two into his hand and swallowed them under the watchful eye of the doctor.

 

“Hand over your old bottle.” Dr. Coulson said. Loki pulled it out from his pocket and dropped in the doctor’s outstretched hand.

 

“It’s empty.” Dr. Coulson said, looking surprised.

 

“Finished it three days ago.” Loki muttered, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. He was just lucky he didn’t have a psychotic break. Dr. Coulson gave him a stern look but tucked the bottle away and made another note.

 

He hated things that changed. He hated that he had changed. Why had he changed?

 

He hated it so much that he wanted to just hurt someone.

 

The courthouses were a good idea. They were always full of people and creating chaos in a public area was always much fun.

 

Loki raised his hand and called down meteors on the building, delighting in the way the individual impacts created tiny dust and debris showers. He blew up the pillars one by one, and then he watched as they toppled like dominoes. This time, he kept well out of the way.

 

“Loki.”

 

The voice set him on edge. Loki turned to look at Stark. Captain America was hauling people out of the wreckage already. The hawk and the widow were probably off clearing up the little rampage of elephants he had set off down town. Where was Thor and where was Banner?

 

“When you’re not on edge, you’re taking up too much space.” Stark commented.

 

“I like you better this way, wary, nervous. More likely to make a mistake.”

 

Full of words as usual. Loki sneered at the man.

 

“Don’t be insipid, Man of Iron. I am in no way wary or nervous.” He said. But he was. Loki flung his sceptre out, sending bolts of energy flying towards Stark.

 

The ground beneath Stark turned to wasps, flying up to swarm around him. The engineer swore and blasted them several times but Loki just made more wasps. He took a few steps back and retreated to watch from a safe distance.

 

“Brother!”

 

Loki turned to see the man he hated. The inexplicable pain he felt at seeing Thor made him want to wrap his hands around that neck and just wring the life out of it.

 

“I am not your brother.” Loki snarled.

 

“Stop this foolishness, brother! Stop the dragons now!”

 

“I released no dragons.” Loki retorted. There was a horrified silence from Thor as he realised what that could possibly mean.

 

“The Enchantress must be nearby.” Stark said, appearing from the side, he had stabilized the building and prevented it from toppling over to the ones nearby. It didn’t stop the chaos from spreading.

 

“You must stop the Enchantress, Loki.” Thor implored him. Loki sneered.

 

“Have you forgotten? I am a monster!” _I killed you, remember? I killed you and you bled out in front of me._ Loki sucked in the breath at the thoughts that came unbidden. The golden hair, stained with blood, sad blue eyes filled with pain and confusion, the word ‘why’ dying on his lips. Orderlies bundling him away, forcing medication down his throat because he had _psychotic tendencies_. Mum and Dad were crying as he was taken, taken aw-

 

“You’re not a monster!” Thor shouted.

 

Even if Loki had been inclined to help stop the dragons from tearing the town apart, he had no chance of doing so because the very person they had been talking about appeared with a laugh.

 

He didn’t know why but he pushed Thor out of the way, taking the brunt of the attack. He remembered a flash of pain, a brief stab of pain and the sweet kiss of darkness.

 

 

 

 

His face felt scratchy. Not from going with a shave for a long time but rather, from sand. He was lying on sand.

 

“Are you awake?”

 

That voice again. Loki sighed on the inside. Of all the people he had to be stuck with, it was Stark. He grumbled slightly at his fate.

 

“Where are we, Stark?” He snarled as he got up. Stark shrugged inelegantly, the armour falling off one side.

 

“I can’t pretend to know everything.” The man replied easily. “But from what I gathered, we’re on the beach. It’s not an island as far as I can see. Or at least, it’s not a small island.” He said the last part under his breath.

 

“As far as I can tell, we can just follow the river until we find someone and then ask for directions,” Stark babbled on. “I’d use my suit to triangulate the data but it seems to be shot for now.”

 

“You’re surprisingly calm for someone in the presence of a monster.” Loki observed

 

“You’re not a monster,” Stark objected “Bag of cats crazy, but not a monster.” He amended.

 

“I am. You’re just piss drunk blind you blithering fool.” Loki sneered, hoping to see at least a silver of fear in the Ironman’s eyes. Didn’t he realise he just ousted himself as nearly helpless? Didn’t he realise that Loki still had his magic? It would be laughingly simple to reach out and freeze Stark from the inside out, turning him into a human popsicle.

 

“At least I mean what I say, you might try it occasionally.” Stark retorted. He stood up with a huff and dusted himself off. He threw Loki a contemptuous look before limping off in the direction of the trees.

 

Mean what he said? Loki meant it. He was a monster. He killed his bro… Thor was alive, wasn’t he? Did that mean he wasn’t a monster? No, he was a monster because he was Jotun. He was a disgusting Frost Giant and he was a monster. Loki pushed himself to his feet and shuffled after Stark.

 

He didn’t seem to be hurt much, just cuts and bruises. Stark had already started following the river upstream. Loki could appreciate the logic. Villages, people, tended to stay close to water sources. It was more convenient. If they followed the water, chances were that they would happen across a little village or town.

 

It wasn’t hard to follow either, the underbrush wasn’t dense so it was easy to pick his way through. Loki watched as creatures leaped from tree to tree. They didn’t look like the previous monkeys he had seen on Midgard. They looked larger, more dangerous. Everything looked larger and more dangerous, yet somewhat familiar. Even the trees themselves were towering great things with dozens of branches. Then again, they could be native to just this area. Stark either didn’t notice or care. He just forged on ahead without looking back, grumbling under his breath all the way about stupid Gods. Loki rolled his eyes and made note of what the monkeys were eating.

 

He plucked fruit from plants as he went along until he had an armful of them. They didn’t stop until it started getting dark.

 

Stark found a tree large enough to support the both of them. Loki scaled it easily, magicking the fruits to float up after him. Stark glowered at him from the base and grumbling, started to make his way up. Loki tossed him a couple of fruits. He bit into a waxy looking pink pear and relished the burst of juice on his tongue. Stark watched him for a minute before following suit. Loki didn’t bother to tell Stark that Jotuns were probably capable of withstanding different kinds of poisons. Things edible for Loki, were quite possibly unsuited for humans.  Stark didn’t seem to be worse for the wear though. He lodged himself between two big branches and fell asleep. Loki magicked himself to the tree and closed his eyes, trying to doze.

 

His mind was awake, even as Stark started to snore lightly, Loki’s mind would not stop muttering. The strange inkling that he had killed Thor kept niggling at the back of his mind. Sure, he had made an attempt to do so, but Loki had not succeeded. He hadn’t succeeded at all. Why was he thinking this way?

 

He was jostled out of his thoughts by a rustling sound. Loki turned his head.

 

He could see bared teeth glinting in the dim moonlight. His breath caught in his chest.

 

“Stark, wake up!” Loki hissed. The arc reactor in the man’s chest was glowing blue, probably the thing that had attracted their stalkers in the first place.

 

The blasted man snored loud and squirmed on the branch. Another set of teeth appeared in the darkness. If Loki squinted, he could see more in the distance, all pointing in their direction.

 

“Stark! If you don’t wake up this instant!” Loki hurriedly made the movements to put up some wards. They would hold off whatever was going to attack them for a while.

 

“Whazzat?!” Stark asked blearily. More sets of teeth appeared. Loki growled deep in his throat. He summoned his magic and threw a ball of fire at Stark. The man sat up in a hurry. The brief illumination made the creatures back off, growling in anger.

 

One stalked closer to Stark. The man let out a yell of shock and surprised and fell out off. Loki’s hand snapped out of their own accord, slamming wards into place. He needn’t have worried because Stark fiddled with something in his suit and fired up both repulsors, floating upwards.

 

“Come here, Stark!” Loki snarled. Thankfully, the man followed instruction, making his way towards Loki in a hurry. Loki climbed down as fast as he could, the teeth gathering to watch them leave.

 

Loki paused mid-tree. These things were obviously dangerous. The fireball hadn’t been enough to scare anything into submission. The only reason that they wouldn’t give chase to the bottom of the forest, was if there was something bigger and more dangerous down there.

 

He turned to tell Stark but Stark was already landing on the ground.

 

“Get back up here!” Loki hissed

 

“Make up your mind!” Stark shot back but it was too late. His next remark died on his lips as he realised what was watching him from the underbrush. Loki slipped and slid the rest of the way down, grabbed Stark’s wrist and started running.

 

The thing, whatever it was, all growling and snapping teeth, missed a beat before giving chase.

 

Loki’s chest was heaving. He turned and fired off blasts of ice and fire at it but it shook them off like they were nothing at all. Was he losing his powers? Loki thought hysterically as he ran.  Or was the creature’s armour too thick to penetrate? Loki shouted a spell breathlessly. Doubles split off from the in twos, running in different directions. The beast faltered, but then locked back onto them.

 

Loki all but threw Stark up a tree, scrambling after the man. The beast howled, scrabbling at the base. The canopy was dense enough that in the lower branches, the pair could hop from tree to tree.

 

The beast paced below them, all around them, teeth taunted them. Loki clutched his hand to his chest, trying to catch his breath.

 

“What was that?” Stark demanded.

 

“I can’t pretend to know everything.” Loki shot back, panting hard. Stark was useless like this, half functioning suit and what not. The climbing beasts didn’t seem to want to lower themselves to the lower branches while the beast below didn’t seem to be able to jump that far. It followed under them as the pair gingerly picked their way across the large tree branches of the canopy. Stark looked uneasy but didn’t say a thing.

 

They walked until they reached the edges of the river again. The creature following them would not go near the water line. Loki didn’t know if it couldn’t swim, or if there was something even bigger and more dangerous in the water. He didn’t want to find out.

 

“Let me…” Stark sounded bad. Loki turned to look. Even in the dim light, he could see that Stark’s was eerily pale. The man wobbled on his feet and then passed out.

 

Loki let out a curse, diving to catch the man. They fell to the ground with an oof, Loki cushioning Stark’s fall. He didn’t stop, pulling Stark flush against his body and dragging him towards the river. He touched one hand to it, letting it freeze as thickly as he dared. Something large thunked against the underside of the ice as Loki pulled Stark across.

 

The beast that had chased them seemed to notice whatever in the water wasn’t currently a threat. It took a few tentative steps towards the ice and then trod on it. Loki dragged faster. Tony was a dead weight in the suit. He pushed the man against a tree. The beast was halfway across, gaining confidence on the ice.

 

Loki bared his teeth at it and blasted the makeshift bridge with fire.

 

With a high pitched yelp, the beast fell into the water. Something, no, a swarm of something converged upon it for twenty, thirty seconds and then dispersed, leaving nothing behind.

 

Loki felt a shiver go up his spine.

 

This definitely wasn’t Midgard anymore.

 

He turned his attention to Stark. The man was breathing shallowly. Clearly, he had been injured somewhere and somehow. Loki picked him up in a bridal carry and started to walk, layering his footsteps with silencing spells.

 

Maybe it was the breaking dawn, or perhaps a twist of fate and good favour, that Loki didn’t meet with hungry beasts as he trekked along the river. Stark stirred slightly several times but did not wake fully.

 

Loki set him down after some time, unable to continue. It was a good thing he was also the God of Fire. It wasn’t hard for him to gather some wood and set it alight. The warmth of the fire coupled with the warmth of the sun seemed to put some colour back into Stark’s face.

 

They were still near the river. It didn’t take much for Loki to snare some fish with ice magic. He roasted them over the fire and set about removing the armour from Stark’s person.

 

There wasn’t any obvious bleeding but there was a giant odd looking bruise on Stark’s side. Loki had read about this and experienced it for himself. Internal bleeding. Loki felt a pulse of fear. The last time he had to save a man from bleeding to death in himself, he had the luxury of having Sif nearby and several weapons to help. Now, he was alone and he didn’t have the tools to blood let properly.

 

“Stark.” Loki slapped the man. He didn’t respond. Loki sent a chill over the man, slowing his blood. The suit was in pieces, some parts looking useless. Loki pried the broken pieces apart, searching for something cylindrical, something thin he could stab into Stark’s chest.

 

Wires, wires and more wires. Loki tossed them aside with a snarl. Maybe he could remove the arc reactor instead? It was a hole in his chest, yes? He could let the blood out that way and – it was his heart. Loki growled. If it was his ‘heart’ so to speak, taking it out would kill him. Wires, wires, rocket launcher…. Loki held on to the last one. It was larger than he would have liked, the rockets, but they were cylindrical.

 

“What the fuck are you doing.”

 

Loki turned his head, his nose bumping with the tip of an arrow.

 

Ah, Barton. Loki looked up at the archer.

 

“Step away from the rocket.” Barton said coldly. Loki sneered at him.

 

“Stark is bleeding inside. I need something to let the blood.” Loki said. Barton tilted his head slightly to glance at Stark.

 

“Dismantle this for me and I’ll save him.” Loki said simply. He did not fancy wasting breath and precious time bantering with Barton.

 

“Why the rocket?” Barton hedged. Loki rolled his eyes.

 

“It’s cylindrical and easier to poke through his ribs.” Loki tried not to sound like he was talking to an idiot. Barton might actually prove him right and loose the arrow. His annoyance was mildly alleviated when Barton un-notched his weapon and dropped to his knees, dismantling the rocket with alarming efficiency.

 

“You snuck up on me.” Loki observed.

 

“You were very absorbed.” Barton muttered as he handed Loki the remnants of the rocket. The inner chamber was thin enough to let the blood without causing serious permanent damage. Loki mentally gave thanks that Tony was intelligent enough to contain his destructive tendencies into small destructive packages. Otherwise, they would be stuck watching him die.

 

Loki placed the slender cylinder under Stark’s ribcage and steadied it. Mentally hoping that he would be able to hit the right spot, Loki drew his hand back and took aim.

 

He took a deep breath, and slammed it in.

 

Blood spurted over him then slowed. Loki laid his hands over the wound and froze it, sending tendrils of magic inwards to help heal whatever had ruptured.

 

“Loki!” Another voice. “Step away from him!”

 

Loki sighed inwardly.

 

“It’s fine, Caps. Loki’s actually saving Tony’s life.” Barton stood over Loki protectively. Loki gestured behind him at the fish.

 

“Eat. I’ll be done soon.” He said coldly. Rogers hovered until Barton made him sit. Loki kept the chill on Stark to ensure he didn’t bleed out too fast.

 

 

 

 

It was about an hour later that Loki was confident enough that Stark wasn’t going to die to sit down and have a fish. He still kept an eye on the metal cylinder, drooling blood every now and then.

 

“How did you get here?” Rogers demanded. Loki shrugged.

 

“The Enchantress probably. We woke up on a beach, started walking, tried to sleep, got chased, escaped and ended up here where Stark fainted.” Loki deadpanned.

 

“We landed near the rocks over that side. There’s a cave and an underground spring nearby. We set up camp there yesterday. We were planning to move onwards, follow the river.” Clint volunteered the information without being asked.

 

“We can’t travel until Stark is stable.” Loki said shortly, feeling annoyed that their progress had been slowed. Rogers looked unhappy but accepting.

 

Tony’s breathing had evened out. He seemed to be sleeping. Loki felt a little better.

 

“Not that I’m ungrateful, but why did you save him?” Rogers asked.

 

For the first time, Loki hadn’t an answer. He hadn’t actually thought about it. He had been hyped up on the adrenaline from being chased. Somehow, the thought of abandoning Stark to die had not occurred to him. He had run on autopilot, trying to figure out how to save the man instead.

 

He lifted his shoulders in a shrug.

 

“Who knows what a monster thinks.” He said bitterly.

 

They sat in silence for a while until Loki deemed Stark stable enough to move. He froze the wound as Rogers and Barton fashioned a stretcher for the prone man.

 

It took them the better part of an hour to navigate over the rocks and into the cave.

 

Loki brought more firewood and fish then sat watching as Barton went out to do a sweep of the perimeter.

 

“Natasha, Thor and Bruce might be around somewhere.” He had said as he left. Rogers told him to be back before nightfall, a sentiment that Loki echoed wholeheartedly.

 

Roger moved to sit beside Stark, allowing Loki time to rest. He spent it staring into the fire, watching the flames leap and listening to it crackle. The way the fire danced, why, Loki could almost imagine faces in it. He could imagine a little town, nestled in the burning wood, people going about their daily lives.

 

 

 

 

 

The town was busy as usual. Loki felt queasy as he dragged the cart behind Ms. Naya. There was a strange restless feeling brewing in his chest. Thoughts of watching a fire burn were at the forefront of his mind, a strange thing to think about early on a Saturday morning while helping to carry the groceries. 

 

He shuffled over to the fruit aisle and started to pick out apples. He liked apples best. Ms. Naya was busy chatting to one of the old ladies, no doubt discussing the new boy in town.

 

“Lo, Trickster.” Robbie said with a grin. He always talked to Loki. If Loki was quite lucid, then he would reply. Often times, Loki wasn’t lucid, so he didn’t.

 

“Robbie.” Loki acknowledged the greeting with a nod of his head and a tiny smile. “How are you?”

 

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Robbie asked with a laugh. He hefted a box of oranges onto the table and started arranging them in a little pile on the racks.

 

“I do what I want.” Loki retorted with a mock scowl. As far as he could remember, he liked Robbie White. The boy was all golden sunshine, always a good word for anyone, quick to defend everyone and forever giving people the benefit of the doubt.

 

Robbie laughed again. The taller boy shuffled over sideways to start a new pile. He didn’t realise that the first pile was a little too tall. A customer jostled the display, causing a mini avalanche of oranges.

 

“Gosh darn it!” Robbie shouted. Loki laughed but dove after the rolling oranges. He picked several up off the floor before they could get trampled.

 

“I’ll get the ones here.” Robbie _StevensonRoGers_ said. Loki obligingly headed for the few strays that had managed to make it to the door.

 

After prising the last one from a toddler’s hands, Loki straightened and turned to hand the oranges to Robbie. A glint in the sun from outside caught his eye. Loki watched as the resident barkeep crossed the road, busy texting on his phone. The glint was from the sunglasses he always wore.

 

Harry was making his way over to the supermarket. Loki wasn’t too concerned with him though, he was more interested in his own reflection. The shiny automatic door that opened and closed showed him a different reaction each time. He saw himself younger the first time, older the second and greying in the third time. _Monster. Fratricide. Monster._

 

The door slid open when another customer walked in, drawing Loki’s attention to Harry again. As the man stepped onto the curb, two things happened.

 

The first, an ambulance came blaring down the road.

 

The second, Harry slipped in a puddle of water.

 

In that split second, Loki saw Harry’s eyes go wide behind the sunglasses as he started to topple backwards.

 

There hadn’t been much room for thought, Loki would realize later as he lay on the floor, Harry March lying on top of him, orange squashed under the two of them. Loki had simply acted upon instinct.

 

There was a brief moment where Loki felt a strong sense of déjà vu. He remembered a moment similar to this, a voice shouting at him, a body over his.

 

_“Loki, Loki are you alright?”_

_“Oh Loki, next time look both ways!”_

Loki blinked and the memory passed as if it never existed. If it was the movies, Loki thought, there would be a hushed silence and then people pointing and staring. As it was real life, few people noticed at all.

 

Harry scrambled off Loki in a hurry, somehow managing to look stricken and grateful at the same time. Robbie was by Loki’s side in an instant, helping him up, dusting him off and asking if he was alright.

 

Loki winced as Robbie patted a particularly sore spot.

 

“I think I might be bruised.” Loki muttered with another wince. He caught sight of his reflection and did a double take. In the glass, there was a giant bruise on his face and a cut over his nose. He looked tired and haggard, at least ten years older.

 

“Oh god I’m so sorry.” Harry March was saying “Do you need to get checked out? I’ve a car, I can take you to the hospital.”

 

Loki blinked and his reflection was him again.

 

“Come on, at least let me take you to Dorian for some cream.” Harry wheedled. Loki wanted to protest but the two of them insisted on escorting him along to the Pharmacy.

 

Dorian was busy tending to another customer when Harry and Robbie escorted Loki into the Pharmacy. Harry waved at Dorian and promptly put Loki in the backroom to wait. Robbie had to leave, he still had oranges to arrange. He popped back out into the front and exited at top speed with a hurried “Hi Mr. Crouch! Bye Mr. Crouch!”

 

“What’s up?” Dorian asked, stepping into the backroom. His brow was furrowed in a look of concern.

 

“I nearly got run over but he saved me and I squashed him.” Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. Dorian looked back and forth between the two of them and then moved over to Loki.

 

“Can you lift your shirt, please?” Dorian asked. Loki obliged, grimacing when the pharmacist started poking at his ribs.

 

“It’s nothing serious, just some bruising due to the fall and having a man twice your size crush you.” Dorian said in a light tone, directing a mock glare in Harry’s direction. Loki couldn’t suppress his chuckle.

 

“Good job, by the way,” Dorian added as he pulled Loki’s shirt back down. He went to one of the cabinets and took out several boxes before finding the one he wanted. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for one to have enough strength to budge Harry.”

 

Dorian thumped a bottle of cream into Loki’s hands.

 

“Sunblock?” Loki asked sceptically, reading the label and turning the bottle over in his hands.

 

“Nah, it’s my own concoction for bruises,” Dorian laughed “Harry tends to need it a lot. I save some of the old bottles and put my bruise cream in them.”

 

Loki made a soft ‘Oh’ with his mouth. He patted his pockets awkwardly.

 

“I don’t have any cash.” He said, feeling uncomfortable. Dorian patted his shoulder carefully so not to jostle any bruises.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Dorian said jovially. “Apply twice a day or when it hurts too much.”

 

Loki sat there for another moment, feeling awkward. He hadn’t exactly had to deal with people in a long, long time. Mostly, he just tagged along with Ms. Naya whenever she needed to buy something, or wandered around the town on his own.  He wondered what he did when he wasn’t quite lucid. Did he obey Ms. Naya without question? He didn’t remember much from those days.

 

He was saved when Harry got up and stretched.

 

“I still need to go to the supermarket and I think that Ms. Naya is probably looking for you already.” He said. Loki got up and let himself be led back to the store. Dorian saw them out, standing in the doorway and waving with a tiny smile.

 

 Ms. Naya made a fuss over Loki like he was six instead of sixteen. He rolled his eyes as she lectured him for wandering off alone. She never seemed to realise that the reason most of the townspeople knew him was because he wandered around alone most of the time.

 

He dutifully put all the things she had bought into the little trolley and followed her as they made their way back home.

 

Loki watched the windows of the shops and houses they passed. He didn’t say a word to Ms. Naya at all, not even making noises of agreement as she chattered on and on to him. He was busy trying to guess which windows would show what reflection.

 

He wondered if those were premonitions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Something is wrong.”

 

Loki was awake and very aware the moment he heard those words. He snapped upright and turned his head to look at Stark. The man was breathing shallowly. Rogers looked stricken.

 

Loki bit his lip. He was a magician but he had no idea how similar Aesir and humans were. He could help, yes, but ultimately, they needed a real doctor. Nevertheless, he scrambled over to check the man’s vitals.

 

He was cool to the touch, probably due to the chill Loki had placed on him. Loki reached for his magic, commanding it to wind through the hole in Stark’s side and seek out the damaged areas. The general feeling he received was that Stark still needed more time. Time which he probably didn’t have. Loki wouldn’t pretend to know what went on in a human’s body but he did know that in any case, having a hole in the side was not an ideal situation.

 

Loki grabbed the metal cylinder, slick with blood and started to pull. Rogers looked sick and pale. Stark whimpered.

 

“Hold him.” Loki said, tone hushed. Rogers obliged, pinning both of Stark’s hands. Loki pulled hard. There was a disgusting squelch which made Rogers wince. The wound oozed blood. Loki hesitated. Stark had already lost a lot of blood. He moved the cylinder towards the fire slowly.

 

“Your spells?” Rogers asked desperately, making Loki pause.

 

“I can only speed healing, not cause it.” Loki said quietly.

 

“The ice thing?” Rob _bie_ gers was grasping at straws.

 

“It will cause frostbite. Then it will melt. The hole won’t just be unable to heal, It’ll get bigger.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“I tried to save a pet once.”

 

There was an awkward silence.

 

“Do it.” Barton said from behind them. Loki glanced at him. He too, was pale faced. He knelt and held Stark’s legs in position.

 

“He can’t afford to bleed anymore.” Barton muttered. Loki looked at the hole. It was small enough to cauterize but it was going to hurt like hell. Loki had done it only once before, on himself.

 

He gritted his teeth and stuck the cylinder over the fire, willing it to heat up faster. Stark’s breathing was shallow still. Loki counted off sixty agonizing seconds until the metal started to turn a dull red colour. He pulled it from the fire and without hesitation, pressed it to the tiny hole.

 

Stark screamed.

 

Loki didn’t let go. The acrid scent of burning flesh pierced his nose. Loki held on as Stark screamed again.

 

He didn’t let go until there was a black shiny mark on Tony’s otherwise tan skin. It was black and shiny but it was shut and not bleeding. Stark was weeping. Loki threw the cylinder away, placing his trembling hands over the mark and whispering a spell to take away the pain. The salt on his lips told him that he was also crying.

 

Rogers was grim faced, so was Barton. The two of them didn’t move until Stark’s weeping slowed into a whimper.

 

“What was that?” Barton asked suddenly. His head as half cocked to the side. Something thumped and rustled outside.

 

“His screaming,” Loki whispered. “The burning smell, something’s come for him.”

 

Rogers picked up his shield immediately, hefting up a rock in the other hand. The colour had returned to his cheeks. Loki reached for the fire. His fingers hurt when he dipped into the leaping red tongues but he bore it. He picked up a flame like one would pick up a dropped coin, a gimmick he had learned ages ago. He handed it to Barton.

 

“Go.” He said, settling beside Stark. “I’ll watch him.”

 

The rustling and grunting outside grew louder. Barton gave him a strange look as they left. If they questioned his motives, well, Loki didn’t know what to tell them.

 

He rested his hand on Stark’s brow, smoothing out the furrow there. Loki huddled in on himself, wondering if Stark would ever stop whimpering.

 

 

 

 

 

The whimpering, Loki soon discovered, came from the little park at the junction leading to the mansion. Most people didn’t frequent that particular part because all the inmates of the mansion would come to play there.

 

Loki arched an eyebrow when he peered over a tall bush and saw a young boy holding a toy out of a little girl’s reach. He arched the other eyebrow when he realized the little girl was little Madison.

 

“What are you doing?” He asked, stepping out from behind the bush. The boy whirled around, looking flushed. Madison took the chance to take the toy and run back to the mansion, squealing all the way.

 

“Look what you’ve done!” The boy cried. He made to follow but Loki grabbed his arm and stopped him.

 

“I stopped you from bullying a kid that’s half your age and size.” Loki sneered at him. Up close, Loki noticed that the boy was around his age.

 

“She stole my keys!” The boy protested. “I know she did! My aunt’s going to kill me!” He said angrily, wrenching his arm out of Loki’s grip. Loki let him go.

 

“If indeed what you said is true, then we’ll just retrieve them from her room in the mansion.” Loki said evenly. The boy snorted.

 

“That doesn’t, however, excuse you from bullying her.” Loki added. He started down the road, feeling annoyed that he had to go back to the mansion just after he had come out. Oh, he could have easily just given the other boy directions and let him find his own way but Loki didn’t quite trust the boy not to bully Madison again.

 

“Who are you, anyway?” the boy asked sullenly, falling into step behind Loki.

 

“Loki Odinson. Resident psychopath” Loki replied easily.

 

“Brian Chess. Resident genius.” The boy shot back sarcastically, not believing Loki at all. Loki grinned to himself. They didn’t say another word until they were at the mansion and Loki was leading Brian up the stairs. It was easy enough to find Madison’s room. She shared it with another child, an amnesiac that Loki couldn’t remember the name.

 

“Madison?” Loki asked. She hid pretty well but her breathing was still laboured from her running. It was easy enough to track her to the pile of laundry.

 

“Can we have the keys back?” Loki asked softly, getting down on his knees and pulling away a night gown from the top of the pile. He came face to face with wet eyes.

 

“I didn’t mean it,” She said woefully. “I heard Dr. Coulson said I kept a maniac, I’m sorry.”

 

A tiny hand snuck out from under a dirty sock, handing Loki the keys. Loki took it from her.

 

“You can come out now, you know?” He offered. Madison shook her head, dislodging knickers from the top of the pile.

 

“Okay then.”

 

Loki straightened and turned to Brian who was standing in the doorway looking amused.

 

“Do you work here or something?” Brian asked him curiously.

 

“I live here.” Loki retorted. Brian’s eyes went wide.

 

“No shit! I thought you were kidding me!”

 

“I wasn’t.” Loki muttered. He stuck out his hand to Brian and dropped the keys in Brian’s outstretched hand.

 

“There, get out.” Loki said. He turned and went to his room. He didn’t feel like going out anymore.

 

To his utmost annoyance, Brian followed him.

 

“I expected crazy people to look crazier.” He said inquisitively. _You expect monsters to look like monsters._

 

“Do shut up, St-” Loki blinked at the name he was about to say. “-upid.” He finished it instead. Had he almost said ‘Stark’? If Brian noticed, he gave no indication of it.

 

“Can I see your room? What do you do all day? Do you go to school?”

 

There were a million and one questions that Brian was asking. He blathered on despite Loki’s withering glare.

 

“This, is my room. Nothing special.” Loki flung open the door and jabbed his thumb inside. Brian didn’t look deterred at all. In fact, he looked even more interested. He went in and kicked off his shoes, flopping down on the bed.

 

“Wow, your bed is super soft.” Brian commented. He squeezed the pillow and rubbed his hand on the blanket. Loki could only stare in disbelief.

 

“What do you do for fun around here?” Brian asked curiously. He didn’t look intimidated even as Loki stood over him, grabbed his shirt and pulled him upright.

 

“Get out.” Loki said. Brian didn’t look fazed at all. He continued looking around the room.

 

“You don’t even have a desktop in here.” He commented. Loki dragged him to the door.

 

“Out!” He said, lips in a firm line, and pointed outwards. Brian blinked once, appearing for all intents and purposes to have just heard Loki’s request.

 

“Hey!” He protested. Loki rolled his eyes. “You can’t throw me out, I’m a guest here!”

 

Loki stared at him incredulously. The ridiculousness of that statement made him just want to slap the boy. He stared into Brian’s eyes. Brian looked as if he legitimately believed that was a good reason. He looked familiar. His face would probably become more angular. He could grow a goatee. It would look good on him, Loki thought absentmindedly.

 

“Are you okay?” Brian asked him, peering at Loki as if Loki was going to keel over and die any second.  “Cause, if you’re gonna like have an episode or anything, I need to tell you the extent of my first aid skills go no further than checking vitals.”

 

Loki laughed. The line startled him so much that he laughed. He laughed genuinely and then closed the distance between their lips.

 

There was a brief moment where Brian didn’t move, too surprised to do a thing. The moment passed quickly and Loki soon found himself breaking the kiss for air.

 

Brian gave him a cock-sure grin, making Loki roll his eyes in exasperation. He pressed the younger boy onto the bed and held him there.

 

“Have we met before?” He asked Brian. Brian shrugged nonchalantly, bringing one knee up to rub against the inside of Loki’s thigh. Loki let out a soft ‘mmm’ of appreciation, bringing their mouths together again. His hands roamed over Brian’s chest, lingering on his sternum to trace a circle there. Loki fumbled for the buttons on his shirt and shrugged it off. It seemed like the right thing to help Brian shimmy out of his pants too.

 

“I don’t know,” Brian said as they broke the kiss again. “Maybe you saw me around the town. I’m here most summers. Dad can’t stand me.” He volunteered the information freely. Loki tried to remember but only came up with blanks. He tried to push the thought to the back of his mind and focus on Brian again. Loki's pants, Brian's shirt joined the messy pile on the floor.

 

“I think we exchanged words before.” Loki murmured. Brian shrugged again, carding his fingers through Loki’s hair. He manoeuvred them both until their positions were reversed.

 

“Does it matter?” Brian whined when Loki made to ask him another question. Loki hesitated.

 

“I guess not.” Loki admitted. Brian was warm, a nice comfortable weight on Loki’s middle. He let his fingers hook in the waistband of Brian's boxers.

 

“You’re alright, for a psycho.”

 

“Loki!”

 

Loki froze. He felt Brian go completely still above him. Ms. Naya stood in the doorway, looking horrified. Beside her was a stony faced Dr. Coulson.

 

“What have you done?” Dr. Coulson asked. Loki faltered.

 

“I can explain.” He said in a hurry, feeling a knot of fear in his heart.

 

“Not you, you!” Dr. Coulson strode into the room and pulled Brian upright.

 

“Are you aware, young man, that this is considered rape?” Dr. Coulson’s voice shook. His gaze was directed at Brian. Brian’s mouth opened in shock.

 

“He wanted it right?” he protested.

 

“He’s a resident of this institution, an institution for youngsters who have mental disorders. He is not considered capable of making such decisions. It is illegal to sleep with someone not sound of mind.” Dr. Coulson said grimly, giving Loki the once over. Loki gripped the sheets, feeling mutinous.

 

“I kissed him,” Loki repeated. “I instigated this incident. Not him. He’s not even of age yet!”

 

“I’m fifteen.” Brian offered in a small voice.

 

“You have bruises on your back, Loki.” Dr. Coulson’s voice was tight.

 

“I fell.”

 

“If I had a dollar for every time I heard that excuse.”

 

“No, really. I fell,” Loki interrupted. “I pulled Harry March out of the way of a car. Mr. Crouch gave me the bruise cream. Call them.”

 

Dr. Coulson pulled his phone out of his pocket. Ms. Naya went off and returned with a phone book. There was a tense and uncomfortable silence while Dr. Coulson dialled the number. Brian kept looking at Loki and Loki didn’t want to return the gaze.

 

“Hello? Mr. March? Loki says he saved your life today? His bruises are from that? Hmm? Mmhmm. Yes. Yes thank you. No, you’re welcome. He’s fine. I was just worried. Oh no problem. Thank you so much.”

 

The look on Dr. Coulson’s face relaxed a little but not completely. He pressed the ‘End Call’ button and let go of Brian. He looked between the two of them.

 

“One is a minor. One is technically not sound of mind.” Dr. Coulson muttered to himself, gripping his phone tightly.

 

“Please, Dr. Coulson.” Loki ground out through gritted teeth.

 

“I’ll have to call your mother.” Dr. Coulson told Brian. Brian hesitated.

 

“She won’t have anything to do with me. She sent me here to get rid of me.” He said sullenly. “But you can call my aunt.” He added. Dr. Coulson punched in the numbers as Brian recited them.

 

“Ms? I have here your nephew, one-”

 

“Brian Chess.”

 

“Brian Chess, at the Sunshine Smiles Mental Health Institute for Youngsters. There is a matter of importance we have to discuss. Could you come over and collect him? Yes, Yes right now is best. Thank you. No, Thank you very much.” Dr. Coulson ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

 

“Get dressed., Mrs. Chess will be here in twenty minutes.” Dr. Coulson said. He wouldn’t look Loki in the eye as he left the room.

 

Loki put his shirt back on mechanically, feeling cheated. He was crazy therefore every one he liked wasn’t allowed to touch him. Cause he might be too crazy to really mean that he wanted to have sex. It was logical, he supposed, better safe than sorry. But it was unfortunate because he really, really, liked Brian.

 

They stood awkwardly before heading downstairs together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Chess was a sharply dressed woman. She had her hair done up in a bun, her gray pantsuit immaculate. She shook Dr. Coulson’s hand and introduced herself as ‘Maryatul Chess’. They disappeared into Dr. Coulson’s office to talk, leaving Loki and Brian outside, fidgeting on the seat.

 

“I’m sorry,” Brian said after a little while. “I didn’t think.” He looked quite morose.

 

“It’s nothing,” Loki muttered. “I’m older, I should be more responsible.”

 

“You’re crazy”

 

“You’re underage.”

 

“So are you.”

 

“Only in certain states.”

 

There was a pause before both of them lapsed into giggles.

 

“I liked it.”

 

“So did I.”

 

They shuffled closer together until they were bumping shoulders. The silence that followed wasn’t as oppressing as before.

 

“Are you saying that Brian was caught with your patient?”

 

Maryatul’s voice drifted out from the office, tinged with anger. Brian winced. He stared forlornly at the floor.

 

“Brian is a minor. Loki is unsound of mind.” The grim note in Dr. Coulson’s voice was still there.

 

“Then neither of them can be charged!”

 

“That really, really depends.” Dr. Coulson pointed out.

 

A silence.

 

“Did they have penetrative sex?” Maryatul asked, her tone soft and quiet.

 

“No.”

 

“Then let sleeping dogs lie. Harmless fun on both ends.” She said.

 

“You’re not concerned.”

 

“The only laws Brian understands are the laws of physics. Mendel’s law perhaps. That’s all. I hold no grounds to speak of your Loki.” Maryatul sounded more resigned than anything.

 

Footsteps. Then the door opened. Loki was pulled inside to stand in front of the table.

 

“Loki.” Dr. Coulson began.

 

“I wanted it.” Loki interjected before he could continue.

 

“I felt attraction to Brian. He’s aesthetically pleasing and intellectually superior. I liked that in him.” Loki continued, ignoring whatever raised eyebrows he received.

 

“I just wanted to ask you, Loki. Why now?” Dr. Coulson placated him.

 

There was a lull. Loki could not find the answer. It wasn’t to say that he had never had the urge to find someone and have sex but it had never been so strong. He had never really thought about it. He had never really put much stock in it. Just, with Brian, it was like falling into an old routine. Mildly antagonistic talk, followed by a strange tension. Only this time, Loki didn’t really feel like killing Brian, so he cut the strange tension by making a move.

 

“I like Brian.” Loki replied honestly. Then he shrugged. “But who knows what a monster thinks?” A tinge of bitterness in his voice

 

“Better not trust me.”

 

 

 

 

“Better not trust him.”

 

That was a woman’s voice. Loki sat up straight, alert in an instance. The burning embers illuminated the profile of one Natasha Romanoff. He was too exhausted to even glare. Romanoff noticed his stare and gave him a strange look.

 

Banner was huddled in a corner, clothes shredded. Rogers was asleep beside Banner and Barton was talking to Romanoff. Loki got up and went to check on Stark.

 

He wasn’t whimpering anymore. Loki touched his forehead, frowning when he realized that the chill he had applied seemed to have lost its effect.

 

“Fever. Infection, perhaps.” He informed Barton and Romanoff grimly. Loki laid his hands over the wound again, trying to dull the pain. Stark’s furrowed brow smoothed out gradually.

 

“There’s food.” Barton remarked. Loki looked over at the large hind leg roasting over the fire. His stomach gave a little rumble and he reached out take the food. Magic always gave him a huge appetite.

 

“How long?” Loki asked as he pulled strips of meat from the hind leg and popped them into his mouth. Romanoff gave a non-committal shrug. She turned away, clearly indicating Barton should answer.

 

“You slept when we got back with the beast. Natasha and Bruce arrived, the smoke was a dead giveaway.” Barton supplied.

 

Loki’s first thought was about Thor. The second thought reminded him that he had killed his brother a long time ago.

 

“What about Thor?” The words escaped before he could contain them.

 

“We couldn’t find him.” Romanoff said warily, voice tinged with worry and regret.

 

“Not your fault, Maddie.” Loki assured her. “Thor was never the brightest mind. He probably assumed that the smoke was from natives of the land and decided not to come this way lest he be captured.”

 

Something pressed to the back of his head made him freeze.

 

“You called me Maddie. Why?” Romanoff stated by way of question. Loki blinked.

 

“For that matter, why are you helping us?” She demanded, pressing the barrel harder against his skull. Loki let it push his head forward, mind struggling to recall what he said.

 

“You’re tired, you must have heard wrong,” Loki told her. “And I’m more interested in getting out of here alive than playing happy enemies with you.”

 

The gun was pulled away. He resumed his meal. Barton and Romanoff retreated to the mouth of the cave to keep watch.

 

Loki remained where he sat until the daybreak.

 

“Banner.” He said quietly. The man shot upright from his sleeping position. Rogers was still asleep.

 

“I’m going to look for herbs. Anything that will help Stark.” Loki stated. He received a series of disbelieving looks from Banner, Barton and Romanoff but tried not to let it get to him. He shouldn’t blame them for not believing a monster’s words.

 

He was thankful, however, when Banner got up and shuffled after him. Loki pushed aside the vegetation covering the mouth of the cave and then stepped out. He climbed to the top of the rocks and looked out over the visible terrain.

 

“Where are we?” Banner asked.

 

“A domain, most probably,” Loki said as he made his way back down and started off in the direction of the trees. “Smaller than a realm but big enough to sustain life on its own. They exist in many places.”

 

Banner frowned, most likely unable to comprehend the thought of having random floating places around. He scrambled after Loki, pushing up his glasses that had somehow made it out intact. Loki strode on ahead. He was starting to feel a deep ache in his bones.

 

“How familiar are you with herbs?” Loki asked briskly. Banner stuttered then fell into some semblance of a doctor again.

 

“I used many on my travels.” He said. Loki smiled tight.

 

“So did I.” Loki muttered, bending down to examine the vegetation. There were things that looked similar to the plants he had seen and used before. However, things that looked the same rarely were the same, Loki thought darkly. He looked Aesir, didn’t he? But he was a monster.

 

Banner was pulling up a plant by the roots, fingers scrabbling at the soil. Loki crouched beside him, watching as Banner extracted a mushroom like object. The cap of the mushroom was roughly as large as a dinner plate. Banner pursed his lips.

 

“Lunch?” He offered Loki a weak smile. Loki couldn’t help but smile back. He pulled off his tunic and used that to carry the fungus in a sling. Banner had already straightened and went off in search of more useful vegetation.

 

Banner was more than adept at foraging for herbs and possibly edible plants, Loki had to admit that at least. He had a sharp eye and mind, often spotting plants that Loki might have not seen for some time.

 

Loki couldn’t help but wonder why the forest was quiet in the mornings. It was unheard of for most creatures to be nocturnal. The day was long enough for them to forage and eat their fill. He mulled it over as he pulled leaves from an overhanging branch. There weren’t any birdsong or chattering, only the faint rustling of the wind through the trees. Loki and Banner weren’t enough of a threat to send all the creatures scattering away from them, right?

 

“Banner.” Loki said, a realization dawning on him. He blamed the lack of sleep and strange territory. Banner didn’t seem to hear, too busy trying to pry a piece of bark away from the tree.

 

“We need to go, Banner.” Loki hissed urgently, catching Banner’s arm. The doctor gave him an irritated look.

 

“Hands off.” He said. Loki released him.

 

“Do you hear anything, Banner.” Loki asked.

 

There was a moment of eerie silence before Banner paled. He abandoned what he was doing and set off back in the direction from where they came. Loki hefted their harvest onto his shoulder and made haste.

 

The underbrush behind them moved. Loki refused to look back.

 

“Keep moving, Banner!” Loki snarled, quickening his pace. Banner turned to look and paled even further.

 

“Run, RUN RUN!” Banner shouted.

 

Loki didn’t want to know. He grabbed Banner’s arm and dragged him along. Whatever was behind them let out a deafening roar that shook the trees. Banner shook him off again, turning green even as he turned back to face whatever it was.

 

The two creatures roared at each other. Loki didn’t look back. He didn’t want to see monsters. He saw his reflection often enough.

 

He could hear the two crashing around behind him. Loki didn’t stop until he was reaching the rocks. He scrambled up to the cave and slumped on the floor.

 

“Where’s Bruce?” Romanoff demanded, the gun was back again.

 

“Attacked.” Loki panted. Rogers was on his feet in an instant, running out to help.

 

Loki felt like something was compressing his chest. There were black spots on the edge of his vision and he was just -

 

 

 

 

 

Loki lurched into a sitting position, a cry spilling from his lips as he jolted back to wakefulness. Everything was a dark dull grey in his room, the street lamps were too far away to cast their light properly. Loki shivered, pulling his blanket up to his chin. The dream was so real. He could remember. Yet it was only a dream. It made no sense whatsoever. He wasn’t a God, he wasn’t trapped on an island. He wasn’t being attacked.

 

He found himself picking his way to the doctor’s chambers.

 

Three solid knocks had the door opening to show a bleary doctor.

 

“Loki, it’s 2 am in the morning!” The doctor patted away a yawn. He looked concerned but tired. Loki bit his lip.

 

“I’ve been having dreams.” Loki confessed. Dr. Coulson didn’t send him away like Dr. Ross would have. Dr. Ross would have just patted him on the head and said ‘All people dream, Loki.’ And then sent him back to his room.

 

Dr. Coulson led him down to the study and fixed him a cup of hot chocolate. The doctor switched on the light and patted the couch. Loki reclined more comfortably that he had in weeks, soothed by the hot chocolate gliding down his throat.

 

“Night terrors?” Dr. Coulson asked. Loki shook his head mutely.

 

“Not really,” Loki blew on the hot brown liquid. “I don’t really remember them but it seems so real. The people, being chased.” Even as he said it, he could feel the dreams slipping away, hazy at the edges.

 

“What part of that concerns you?” Dr. Coulson asked carefully, leaning forward to look at Loki. Loki shrugged.

 

“Both I guess.” Loki admitted. “I dream of people with similar faces. We fight. And sometimes I daydream about it too.”

 

“It is natural for a mind to dream of something familiar,” Dr. Coulson assured him. “It’s perfectly normal for a person to dream of people with the same faces.”

 

“And dreaming of fights usually indicates the urge to confront something, most of the time it’s a deep seated desire to face one’s fears or foes.” Dr. Coulson offered. He relaxed in his own chair, taking a long drink from his coffee.

 

“What do you fight about, Loki?” Dr. Coulson asked.

 

“Me.” Loki replied, looking away.

 

He started when there was a soft hand on his pajama clad knee. Dr. Coulson had made himself more comfortable leaning against the couch from his position on the floor. Loki had to tilt his head down to look him in the eyes.

 

“Why you?” Dr. Coulson asked with a puzzled look. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

 

“I killed my brother.” Loki spat at him, resenting the doctor for being so accepting and quiet. _I’m a Frost Giant_ was at the tip of his tongue. Somehow, it didn’t slip out. His mind held on to the fact that he was a human. He wasn’t a Frost Giant. He was a monster because he killed his brother.

 

Dr. Coulson took a deep breath and sighed. He gazed into the distance and stared down into his coffee.

 

“Someone once told me that a memory forgotten, never was,” Dr. Coulson said quietly. “If you can’t remember it, I don’t see any reason to blame you for something you did when you were a child.”

 

“I am a monster.” Loki repeated. “I know I am, I just can’t remember it.” He insisted.   _Jotun._

 

Dr. Coulson gave him a look that could only be described as sad.

 

“Who do you dream of?” The doctor changed the subject.

 

“Tony.” The name slipped before Loki could stop himself. Loki hesitated grasping for the face to go with the name. “You.”

 

Dr. Coulson looked a little surprised.

 

“Me?”

 

“Have we met before?” Loki asked.

 

“We have, actually. ” Dr. Coulson admitted. “When you were first brought in, I came in as an assistant to the supervisor in charge. You weren’t very lucid at the time, I’m surprised that you remembered.”

 

“I remember.” Loki told him, drawing his knees up to his chin. That was special because he seldom remembered much. He frowned again. These past few days, his dreams were becoming more vivid. He could remember them clearly. He remembered Phil Coulson, A SHIELD agent.

 

“You’re in charge. You’re in charge of all the rest. You tell them to stop me.”

 

“Stop you from doing what?”

 

“Being a monster.”

 

“Loki, you’re not a monster.”

 

Loki didn’t say a word, instead letting his silence be a rebellion. Dr. Coulson sighed but didn’t try to persuade him further.

 

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” Dr. Coulson asked. Loki shook his head, staring into the cup. Dark grey was lightening, turning into the dark reddish orange hue of the heavy curtains.

 

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Dr. Coulson asked. Loki shrugged. The doctor got up and set his coffee on the table. He turned on the light, pulled out a file and then started to write in it. Loki watched the light glint off the pen. The scritch-scratch of the nib on paper lulled him back to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

Loki awoke to someone splashing water on his face, the remnants of dream still clinging to the edges of his consciousness.

 

“He’s awake.” Rogers said with great relief. Banner was sitting at the side, looking like a cat that just has its freshly groomed fur messed up the wrong way.

 

“I told you he’d be fine.” Banner grumbled.

 

“How long?” Loki asked.

 

“A day and a half.”

 

Loki started, at the voice. He turned his head to the side, blinking owlishly at Stark. The man was sitting up, propped against the wall with one hand cradled to his side, an unreadable look on his face.

 

“You alright?” Barton asked, sounding mildly concerned.

 

“We can’t trust him.” Romanoff grumbled in the corner.

 

“Shut up, Madison.” Loki groaned, draping one arm over his eyes. His head was hurting. There were always side effects to using magic. 

 

“He’s doing it again!” Romanoff said, looking visibly agitated.

 

“He’s just confused! He just woke up!” Rogers protested, holding up one hand to ward her off.

 

“Well thank you Robbie, but I can fight my own battles.” Loki retorted, feeling a little warm on the inside that Rogers would defend him anyway.

 

There was a moment of silence.

 

“Loki, hey Reindeer Games,” Stark said. He sounded strained. “Are you alright?”

 

“I’m fine, Brian.” Loki groused, only to realise what they were talking about.

 

“Who’s Brian?” Barton asked quietly. Banner had moved over to kneel beside Loki’s head. He pressed their foreheads together.

 

“No fever.” Banner announced, moving his finger around in front of Loki’s eyes. Loki followed the digit, feeling nonplussed.

 

“Doesn’t seem to be concussed.” Banner added, almost as an afterthought.

 

“What was that, Loki.” Barton asked. Loki didn’t have an answer.

 

“I don’t know.” He replied helplessly. “I really don’t know.” He repeated, wishing that he knew. Rogers got up and dusted himself off.

 

“We need to get going.” Rogers said, looking awkward. Loki looked over to Stark then to Banner.

 

“Is he well enough?” He asked. Banner worried at his bottom lip.

 

“One of the plants we found acts as a painkiller. A mixture of another two seems to be an antibiotic. He can walk. With help.” Banner said softly. Loki nodded then pushed himself into a sitting position.

 

“If this is a domain, there’s a rift somewhere.” He said, wincing as he felt a muscle pull. He rubbed at his arms, trying to get the circulation going again.

 

“The creatures get bigger and more dangerous the closer we get to the rift. Things that come through the rifts often to be unsuspecting travellers or adventurers, easy pickings.” Loki explained. His audience’s expressions ranged from resigned, to indifference, to aghast.

 

“How do we know this isn’t a trick?” Romanoff asked. This time, the gun didn’t make an appearance. Loki shrugged helplessly.

 

“You don’t.” He said.  “You can’t trust a monster. But have I not done well, do you have evidence to complain?”

 

Stark interrupted before the argument could escalate.

 

“Can we please make a decision and get out of here before the happy plants wear off?” He snarked.

 

Loki couldn’t help but crack a grin.

 

“One more day. We stock up and leave.” Rogers said authoratively. Romanoff didn’t look happy but she followed his instructions, taking Barton and Banner with her to forage for more medicinal plants. Rogers stood at the entrance, guarding them.

 

Loki pulled himself to sit against the wall, legs outstretched in front of him. Stark scooted over.

 

“Thank you, Loki.” He said softly. Loki blinked, surprised at the words.

 

“You’ve an agonizing burn scar on your ribcage.” Loki pointed out.

 

“Better than being scarless and dead.” Stark said, making eye contact. He uncovered the burnt skin. It was black, but not blistering.

 

“The plant thingies you brought back worked,” Stark continued, looking at his scar. “It doesn’t hurt, not after the poultice. And Bruce said it’s actually doing really well. He said, if you had hesitated, just left me another hour or two without letting the blood out, I’d have died.”

 

Loki stared at the scar, not wanting to meet Stark’s eyes. Stark leaned forward.

 

“Thank you, Loki.” Stark whispered, pressing a kiss to Loki’s lips.

 

He smelt like ozone, leaves and iron. He tasted like soured milk and bitter herbs. He was hot against Loki’s cold skin. He felt nice, like something snapped back into place inside Loki’s ribcage.

 

“Stop,” Loki breathed, pushing Stark away. “Brian, stop.” Loki repeated.

 

“It is illegal to sleep with someone not sound of mind.” He breathed, the words occurring to him readily.

 

Stark pulled away, a strange look on his face. He pressed the back of his hand to Loki’s forehead then slid it down to Loki’s neck.

 

“You’re not crazy.” Stark stated, his quirked eyebrow making it seem more like a question. Loki hesitated. When they kissed, it felt like he was kissing Tony Stark but it was wrong because Tony was like Brian and Loki was thinking of Brian but then again, who was Brian?

 

“I must be,” Loki whispered. “A conflagration waiting to happen.”

 

Stark drew back, seemingly unable to comprehend what Loki was telling him.

 

“I deserve my bitter tears.” Loki murmured softly, watching as Stark pulled further away. They settled in to wait, backs against the wall, two feet of distance between them.

 

“Thank you, though.” Stark said again. Loki didn’t reply. He didn’t know what to say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loki found Brian again, sitting on a swing on the old abandoned play ground. Brian looked up and gave Loki a tiny smile.

 

“Did he yell at you?” Brian asked. Loki shook his head.

 

“Did she?” He asked Brian. Brian shrugged. “It’s better than what my real parents do, ignore me and hope the problems I cause just go away.”

 

Brian scrunched up his nose, making him look younger.

 

“She lectured me on safe sex.” He said morosely.

 

“It’s not that bad.” Loki ventured cautiously. Brian groaned.

 

“She had a power point.” He replied glumly.

 

Loki sat on the swing next to Brian. He looked over and then frowned. Brian looked tired by the firelight, years older too.

 

“Loki?” Brian- _stark_ asked. Loki furrowed his brow.

 

“You look older.” Loki stated, reaching forward to touch Brian’s face. Brian leaned away from him. Loki couldn’t help the twinge of hurt.

 

“Look, I know Dr. Coulson said that it’s illegal to sleep with someone who’s not sound of mind but even if I’m incapable of making those decisions that doesn’t mean I’m totally crazy.” Loki told him, pulling his hand to his chest. He didn’t know why but he was hungry, so hungry.

 

“Cat bag.” Brian said. Loki blinked. He didn’t understand what that meant at all. He squinted at Brian.

 

“Brian, are you okay?” He asked. Brian looked scared, if anything. Loki didn’t understand it, one moment they were just talking, the next Brian looked so scared. He feared for himself, it appeared.

 

“Captain!” Brian said. Loki was even more nonplussed. He was very confused when Robbie showed up and glared at him. He blinked up at Robbie owlishly. Come to think of it, why were they in a cave? It felt so surreal. Was he dreaming? He couldn’t be, right? Why, just seconds ago he was sitting in the park with Brian.

 

“Robbie? What are you doing here?” Loki asked. Robbie should be arranging oranges at the super, not here with him and Brian.

 

“He’s doing it again!” A girl with bright red hair said, sounding agitated. Loki was reminded strongly of Madison.

 

“Maddie? You’re supposed to be five.” He said, feeling more confused than ever. Mr. Crouch and Harry showed up behind Madison, looking grim.

 

They were similar but they were not the same, Loki noticed belatedly. Mr. Crouch was in tattered clothes, looking like he had worked himself into the ground. Harry had bruises and he looked ready to commit murder. Robbie looked harder than he did before, the kind smile was gone. Madison’s cold-eyed gaze unnerved him the most. She was teary eyed just the other day for telling the nurse about Loki and Brian.

 

Brian, the fear in Brian’s eyes.

 

“What are you playing at?” Robbie demanded. Loki couldn’t help his tiny flinch. He didn’t understand. He didn’t think he could understand. Unless.

 

“I must be dreaming or something.” Loki said, drawing his knees up to his chest, staring wide-eyed at the faces that looked so familiar and yet so foreign. He hadn’t had hallucinations in ages. He hated seeing things that weren’t there.

 

“Is this a joke?” Loki asked Robbie. “This isn’t funny. I’m on new meds. I need to watch out for side effe-”

 

He never got the chance to finish because there was a gun in front of his face. Loki stared cross-eyed into the barrel. This felt familiar but it couldn’t be. He never did anything of this sort. He let his line of sight trail up the barrel, to the hand, to the owner of the hand.

 

“Madison, I thought you were a kleptomaniac?” He asked faintly. Nothing was making sense. These people only existed in his dreams but here they were and they felt so real.

 

“Something’s wrong.” Mr. Crouch said, kneeling. He touched his hands to Loki’s forehead.

 

“I’ve been using the cream, Mr. Crouch.” Loki told him faintly. Why did they feel so real if they were only dream fragments?

 

“Cream?” Mr. Crouch asked him.

 

“The bruise cream you gave me for my back, which I injured saving Harry.” Loki tried. Mr. Crouch’s face was only impassive, unfeeling. Loki never cried but he was pretty damned close now. He could feel the prickling at the edges of his eyes.

 

His hands snuck up to grab at his hair. To his horror, his fingers encountered locks that were too long to be his own. He tugged them to the front to see properly.

 

His hands weren’t even his hands, Loki realised belatedly. They were longer, more graceful, laced with scars. Loki could feel his breath coming in deep gasps.

 

“I’m hallucinating.” He told the apparitions. “This isn’t real. This is a drea-.”

 

Loki fell over with a cry of pain, he looked at Madison in an astonishment and shock. She hit him! Hard! Loki didn’t know what to think. He sat up and backpedalled away from her until his back hit the wall. He hugged his knees, silent tears making tracks down his cheeks.

 

He didn’t understand. They were all staring. They were condemning him. They knew.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.” Loki sniffled. “I don’t remember but I didn’t mean it.” He said.

 

“What didn’t you mean?” Madison asked him.

 

“I didn’t mean to kill him. I don’t remember it.” Loki buried his face in his knees.

 

“Don’t remember what?” Robbie asked, gentler this time.

 

“Killing Thor.” Loki whispered.

 

“If you don’t remember doing it, then how do you know you did it?” Brian asked.

 

“Because Dr. Ross said so.” Loki looked up, feeling nonplussed. Didn’t they know all this already? He looked at all of them in turn.

 

“Dr. Ross said so.” He repeated.

 

“I don’t think he’s faking.” Madison _Romanov_ said. She looked upset, angry. Loki didn’t know why. There were days when he couldn’t really remember what he did, only that he existed. Had he done something bad to her?

 

“Loki, look at me.” Brian said urgently. Loki looked. Brian cupped Loki’s face with both hands and pulled him close.

 

“My name is Stark. Tony Stark. Do you remember me?”

 

Loki didn’t remember. Or rather, he sort of did but wasn’t that a dream?

 

“No, your name is Brian. I’m dreaming. You’re in my dream.” Loki insisted breathlessly.

 

“Can you say it? Call me Stark.” Brian said urgently.

 

“Tony Stark.” The name felt familiar on his lips, as if he had muttered it time and time again.

 

“Stark.” Loki repeated, trying to get used to the name. He stared at Brian’s face. The goatee. The goatee was what made Brian look so much older. Loki perished the thought. Brian wouldn’t look like Stark if he hadn’t had a goatee.

 

He blinked several times.

 

“Stark?” He asked. Stark- _ian_ looked very relieved. Loki blinked again. He shook his head to clear it. He felt as if his brains had been replaced by cotton. His mind was fuzzy around the edges.

 

“Who’s Brian?” Romanov- _ison_ asked. Loki looked at Stark again.

 

“I think Stark is.” He said, confusion still evident in his voice. “Are you sure we haven’t met?” He asked Stark. The other man looked quite disturbed. Banner- _iancrou_ broke the awkward silence by heaving a sigh. He leaned over Loki and flashed a light in his eyes. Loki flinched away from the sudden brightness but allowed the check up.

 

“No concussion as far as I can see.” Banner said softly, sounding puzzled.

 

They left him in his corner against the wall, trying to puzzle out what happened. Stark stayed with him, looking very concerned.

 

“You really gave me a scare there.” Stark said softly. His words couldn’t drown out what the others were saying. Loki pretended that he wasn’t listening.

 

_“He’s crazy” “We knew-” “-really crazy- ” “-faking-” “really?” “don’t think” “not faking?!” “faking faking so we think he’s not faking?”_

 

Loki turned his gaze to Stark- _ian_ ignoring the faint whispers of a name in his mind.

 

“I told you I was a conflagration waiting to happen.” He told Stark sullenly. Stark seemed at a loss for words.

 

“I expected a cooler name.” Stark said flatly at last. “I mean, come on, Brian? Really? Your subconscious couldn’t think of a better name? What’s my last name?”

 

“Chess.” Loki said without hesitation. “You’re Brian. Brian Chess. Resident genius. I’m Loki. Resident psychopath.”

 

“Chess. Chess Brian. Brian Chess.” Stark snorted as he tried the name out on his tongue. “Chess? Chessy. Am I the Cheshire in your Wonderland?”

 

Loki grinned at the comparison.

 

“By all means, Stark. If Alice’s adventures were anything to go by, _this_ world would be my Wonderland.” He told the other man softly.

 

Stark looked taken aback for a moment but he quickly regained composure.

 

“If I’m the cat, can I be in your bag?” Stark leered.

 

Loki had to laugh. He laughed genuinely for the first time in a long while, startling the rest of the people in the vicinity. He cried tears of amusement, wiping at them futilely as they slowly turned to tears of fear, anger and sadness.

 

He was going crazy. There was no Brian. There was no Madison. There were none of the other people that existed only in his brain. He was changing their faces, their personalities to accommodate him and he shouldn’t have. He was seeing things, he was dreaming things but it felt all so real.

 

But even if Brian liked him. Even if Stark liked him. They couldn’t because he was crazy and Brian was not. He was evil and Stark wasn’t.

 

But what if, what if this was the dream? What if this was the dream he was dreaming? A wonderland where he was a god in his own right, a wonderland where he could go where he wanted, do as he pleased. A wonderland where Thor wasn’t dead.

 

It was all just a stupid, wonderless land.

 

 

 

 

 

They left him alone after that. Loki was glad for the quiet and solitude. After sobbing his heart out, he felt better. The water that Stark had thoughtfully provided served to refresh him. Day was breaking, time was running out, they should move soon.

 

Loki wiped his face one last time, gathering his composure around him. He stood and called for the attention of the others.

 

“We need to leave,” He stated as simply as he could. “As I told you, there’s a rift. However there is little chance of determining how long the rift will stay open. Hence there is little time for us to find it and step through it.”

 

“How do we know which rift is the right one?” Barton asked warily. Loki looked at him.

 

“We don’t.”

 

That was the best answer he could give.

 

“But it can’t be far. Rifts don’t open close to each other, usually on opposites of a domain. So there has to be one not far from here.” Loki said quietly. “Besides, you’ve seen what the local fauna has to offer. I think that counts as fierce and predatory, don’t you?”

 

“We need to find Thor first.” Rogers pointed out. Loki kept silent.

 

“How do we even know he was sent here in the first place?” Stark asked.

 

“For all we know, he’s the only one chilling back in New York while we’re duking it out with the nasties here.” Stark grumbled.

 

Loki hesitated.

 

“We should look for him.” He said at last.

 

“I thought you hated him.” Romanov stated quietly.

 

“Things aren’t what they seem,” Loki replied smoothly. “Besides, if Thor was sent here, his hammer would be of great use to make our way to the rift.” He couldn’t help the nervous twisting of his fingers in his tunic.

 

“How do we even start?” Romanov asked. Loki laid his hand on the wall of the cave and pressed lightly. His digits paled slowly and then started to turn blue as the rest of him followed. He pushed his palm onto the wall and then pulled it away. There was a faint imprint of his hand on the wall, glowing with a nearly invisible light.

 

“Thor knows.” Loki murmured. He traced the glowing outline and backed away. Romanov poked at it with a stick warily but left it alone, falling into step behind Rogers.

 

 

 

 

 

“I’ll be leaving next week,” Dr. Coulson said brightly as he walked with Loki. Loki turned his head slightly “Dr. Ross is well enough to walk around now.”

 

“I’ve put in a recommendation that you be transferred to the city, get you back in school for a while, get you used to real life again.”

 

Loki’s head snapped around.

 

“What?” The word slipped out. Loki stopped in his tracks.

 

“You’re doing quite well on the placebo,” Dr. Coulson said amicably. “Remember when I said we wanted to let your body take care of itself for awhile? I gave you placebos.” He said it as if it didn’t matter.

 

“You’re doing really, really well. This is your third week off your meds. You haven’t had any violent outbursts, you haven’t been talking to yourself at all and you seemed to be able to control your anger when the other children took your books. It’s much better the expected outcome written in your file. Dr. Ross speculated a violent incident within three days to a week with serious injury. Honestly, Loki, from what your file said, I actually expected the same.” Dr. Coulson gave him a huge smile, patting him on the shoulder.

 

Loki stared up at the chocolate brown eyes, not believing his ears. He was on a placebo? He was doing better? He was going back to society?

 

That didn’t make sense. He had tried placebos. Dr. Ross had put him on placebos once. A year ago. He stabbed the nurse with a plastic fork.

 

“Placebos?” Loki said it aloud. It sounded so strange to himself. He couldn’t, or maybe wouldn’t, believe it. He felt something grip at his chest. The walls seemed to be closing in on him and the ground seemed to be tipping him sideways. It was rumbling underneath him, Loki was sure of that. Any moment now, it would open up and-

 

 

 

 

 

-swallow him whole.

 

Loki let out a shriek as something grabbed his ankle. Rogers shouted in alarm. Loki fell, fingers scrabbling uselessly at the soil as he was dragged downwards.  

 

“-ThE FucKING HEL-”

 

Tony’s voice in the distance as the soil came up to Loki’s waist. Banner grabbed Loki’s hands, yanking upwards. Whatever it was down there only pulled harder, Loki cried out in pain, feeling something go out of place.

 

“Madison!” Loki screamed as he saw a set of claws erupt near Romanov. The assassin was up in the trees in an instant. Barton was shooting things but the arrows only hit the ground with no target. Loki was up to his neck already.

 

“Get into the trees!” He shouted. Banner gave him a look of desperation but let go and obeyed.

 

Loki only managed to take a deep breath before he was pulled under completely.

 

Loki hated closed spaces. He was scared of closed spaces.

 

He was scared of it because Thor had locked him Uncle Thad’s shed when he was six. _Like the time Thor shut him in the weapons vault._ It was dark inside and the window was too high up for him to reach. Loki had dragged over the old metal boxes and stood on them. He jumped and caught the edge of the window, hanging there for a moments, legs kicking uselessly. The boxes fell over with a clatter so down wasn’t an option either. _He had been trapped inside for hours because Thor had lured the guards away._

 

His sneakers found purchase in a nick and he hoisted himself up, tumbling out on the other side into the bushes. His bottom stung but he felt very proud of himself. _Loki found a tiny way out. It was a Way, a tiny Way. He had to touch the Casket to do it though._

 

Thor was so surprised to see his little brother walking around. Thor wouldn’t stop pestering Loki about how he did it until Loki agreed to show him. Thor unlocked the shed and went inside. _Thor wouldn’t stop screaming when he touched the Casket. Thor didn’t believe Loki could touch the Casket._

 

The boxes were strewn everywhere. Loki started to stack them up when Thor called for his attention.

 

“Do we know this girl?” Thor asked him, holding up a picture. It was faded and yellowish.

 

“Why is she crying?” Loki asked, frowning at the picture. Why would anyone want to take a picture while they were crying? People always smiled in pictures, didn’t they? _Thor cried so hard when his fingers were hurt. Luckily Sif had a healing stone with her._

 

“There are more of them.” Thor observed, he looked disturbed. Loki didn’t understand. The pictures were of kids like them, dressed in funny dresses or not wearing anything. Most of them were crying.

 

“I think these are bad pictures.” Thor said quietly.

 

“Why does Uncle Thad have bad pictures?” Loki asked, he started to arrange the photos properly and stacked them back into the metal boxes. _Loki put the Casket back. He brought it back through the Way and left through the front door._

 

“They’re pictures of him.” Thor said, much quieter than before. He showed one to Loki. Loki frowned at it. The girl was crying but Uncle Thad was smiling. That wasn’t right.

 

“I don’t like these photos.” Loki said, feeling uncomfortable. He took the rest, and stuffed the back into the box, shutting it with a click.

 

“We should tell someone.” Thor said, biting his lip. Loki shook his head resolutely. _They didn’t tell anyone._

 

“Then you’d get into trouble for locking me in his shed and I’d get into trouble for messing up his boxes and we’d both get in trouble for being nosy.” Loki pouted. _The AllFather said they weren’t allowed in the vault anyway._

 

Thor didn’t say anything but helped him stack the boxes back.

 

Closed spaces reminded him of the shed, the bad pictures, the crying faces.

 

Closed spaces reminded him of Uncle Thad.

 

Uncle Thad had called them into the study. Loki always thought the study should have been called stuffy, so filled with old things and dust that it seemed hard to breathe.

 

“Have you been in my shed?” Uncle Thad asked. Loki stood resolutely and shook his head but Thor hesitated.

 

“I can tell, you know,” Uncle Thad said softly as he walked around the table and leaned against it.

 

“The proper order is a necessity.” He continued. Loki felt bad. They had arranged everything but Uncle Thad probably had his own system. Like how Loki liked to put the big books at the back and the small books at the front on his shelf.

 

“You were doing bad things in those photos.” Thor said quietly. He looked mutinous.

 

“Really now?” Uncle Thad quirked an eyebrow.

 

“Yes, Mrs. Brown taught us in class. You were touching. You’re not supposed to touch.” Thor’s mouth was in a thin line. Loki wanted to scream at him, tell him to stop talking and stop getting them into even more trouble Thor just kept talking.

 

“I’m going to tell mother.” Thor announced, turning around and walking straight for the door.

 

He never made it that far.

 

Loki didn’t even scream. He just stood and stared open mouthed at the blood pooling on the floor, seeping into the carpet. He looked up just in time to see a white cloth descend over his face. Loki kicked and screamed but his cries were muffled by the cloth. It smelt funny and his arms felt so heavy.

 

 

 

Not heavy, rather, pinned around him. Loki had to fight to stay calm. He had folded his arms in around his head before he was pulled all the way down and managed to create a tiny space around his head which wasn’t entirely filled with dirt. One ankle was trapped, completely unable to move. The other, the one that had been grabbed, seemed to be hanging in air. Loki twitched his foot experimentally. Something nudged at it and Loki went still immediately.

 

He couldn’t open his eyes. Not that he wanted to. Loki wasn’t eager to face the truth right now. He took a calming breath. He was a sorcerer. He could get himself out of this.

 

He couldn’t risk fire now, not when he could burn himself. Loki wasn’t experienced with shooting magic bolts out of his toes so that was out of the question. Loki took another calming breath and let the change come over him.

 

He couldn’t see it happen but Loki could imagine the blue washing over his body, the lines raising to form patterns, the surroundings freezing as they came into contact with his cold cold body.

 

Loki twitched his foot repeatedly. The thing down there pushed against his boot. Loki shook his foot around again, silently urging it to try and take the boot off.

 

Wet heat closed around his foot and Loki’s heart all but stopped. Wounds he could heal, regrow limbs? Not so much.

 

Cold cold cold cold, Loki repeated inside his head, willing himself to be freezing cold. He hoped it worked. He really hoped it worked. The wet heat withdrew and Loki could feel its teeth scraping painfully down his ankle and his toes. He would have screamed if he didn’t know that it was a foolish move. Instead, he bit his lip and bore the pain as strips of skin were peeled off.

 

Coldcoldcoldcold. Loki forced himself to be. He was a monster. He was the worst kind of monster, the kind that was smart and devious. He had to get through this.

 

Something soft, damp and leathery pressed against the underside of his foot for a mere second before jerking away. Loki prayed it would go away.

 

The ground around him rumbled, as if in response to his prayer. The rumbles moved away from him, lessening into minute tremors. Loki twitched his toes again. This time, nothing nudged him or pressed against him. He breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Now, to get out of this literal hole in the ground.

 

Loki wriggled. The dirt was packed tight around his hips and waist but not around his head. He pushed his right arm upwards experimentally. There was weight pressing down on him but the dirt gave way a little. He was buried deep but not deep enough that the soil couldn’t be dislodged.

 

Loki turned his palms upwards and whispered the spell for freezing. He directed it upwards, willing it to the surface. It seemed like forever before Loki felt the spell hit an even wall where there were no direct water molecules above it. Loki let the spell spread outwards to indicate his position.

 

There was nothing more he could do now, only wait.

 

Waiting was agony. There wasn’t anything to do but feel the seconds tick away. Loki waited under the stairs in the cupboard until Dr. Coulson came out. Madison stole the key for him, asking Dr. Coulson to pick her up after he locked the room and went out for dinner. She dropped the key on the carpet and Loki picked it up. It technically wasn’t breaking in if he had the key, right?

 

He pulled out his own file, sneering at the flowery cursive on the top, then flipped to a random page.

 

_Hears voices. Homicidal thoughts. Suicidal thoughts. Probable and plausible schizophrenia._

 

Loki skipped a page.

 

_Attempting counselling. Refuses to listen._

 

_Described killing people in extreme detail. Seems to be lucid._

_400mg tetracodone._

 

_No improvement. Had to be restrained on the bed and sedated._

 

_Subject still has violent tendencies. Claims to be God of Mischief like namesake. Injured another inmate after hearing the word ‘brother’. Medication has been increased._

 

_Broke a chair, injured the matron. Medication increased again, sedatives given._

 

Loki blinked. He never remembered anything of that sort. He bit his lip. Was he really that much of a monster?

 

Harry liked him well enough. So did Robbie and Mr. Crouch. Surely they couldn’t be mistaken in liking a monster?

 

He read the whole thing through, growing more and more aghast as more and more incidents were described in detail. According to the file, there was at least an incident a week for the first year until Loki was started on his previous medication. Some of the names jumped out, sedatives for adults. Others were only vaguely familiar.

 

He didn’t remember much from the day he killed his brother until now. He couldn’t remember anything. Did he really attempt to kill so many people?

 

Loki looked down at his file again.

 

_Attending doctor: Dr. Thaddeus Ross._

 

Uncle Thad, Loki thought abstractly. There was a beat of silence where his brain ground to a halt and pieced the puzzle together in a haphazard manner.

 

Uncle Thad, Dr. Ross was a family friend. He hadn’t killed his brother had he? Not directly. He might have started the events that led to his death but it wasn’t Loki’s fault. Uncle Thad _Dr.Ross_ had killed Thor. He had made Loki go to sleep with the white cloth.

 

Loki felt small again, three years old and toddling after Thor, demanding to have the sword in his hand so that he could fight.

 

Then again, how sure was he that it wasn’t a hallucination? How sure could he be that the memories were really memories and not figments of his imagination, trying to absolve himself of guilt? He wasn’t. He couldn’t be.

 

Loki shut put the file back carefully and slid the drawer shut. If he wasn’t the killer, was he really that crazy? If he didn’t kill his brother, did that mean he wasn’t insane? Or was he still insane? Loki retreated, making sure everything was in its proper place and locking the door behind him. He dropped the key on the carpet. Dr. Coulson would find it the next day.

 

He couldn’t remember any of his so called ‘psychotic breaks’ or ‘aggressive streaks’. Was that due to the medication? Did any of that even happen? He had no reason to doubt Dr. Ross save for that one memory. But it had happened so long ago.

 

It felt like an eternity. Perhaps it was. Maybe he had been down there for days but he just didn’t know it. Loki laughed hysterically at that.  It couldn’t have been days. That much he knew. He would have run out of air by now.

 

The thing came back, nudging at his frozen foot. It seemed to lose interest in Loki once it realised that Loki was cold and unpalatable.

 

Too monstrous even to eat, Loki thought to himself.

 

He was very relieved when something shifted and moved above him, making the dirt cave in around his face. There were voices shouting and someone was grabbing his arms, digging him out slowly.

 

Loki keened as his injured leg was dragged through the soil onto the ground. Rogers eased him onto a very rudimentary stretcher and the rest of the team hurriedly retreated to the canopy to pull Loki up.

 

“Fuck.” Barton swore when he saw Loki’s leg. “That’s just.”

 

He looked so green. Loki turned his head away. He should have known they wouldn’t be able to stomach his real look.

 

“Your leg is really…” Banner said quietly. Loki looked down and swallowed hard. The first layer of deep blue skin had been peeled away. It was as if he was wearing pants cut off at the ankle. The raw muscle underneath was deep blue, crystalized purple blood flaking off at the edges.

 

“Can you walk?” Romanov asked, looking concerned.

 

“We need water.” Banner announced. “That will get infected.”

 

“I’m dreaming.” Loki whimpered. “I’m dreaming all this.”

 

“Brother?”

 

The small voice made Loki sit up and take notice.

 

“Thor.”

 

That was the one name that never changed. Loki drank in the sight of blonde locks and blue eyes. _Monster killed him_. His mind taunted him. _He’s actually dead, you killed him._

 

Loki found himself enveloped in a bear hug. _No, Dr. Ross killed him. I didn’t._

 

He returned the hug gingerly. Thor was large, firm, solid against him. He was so real. Loki relaxed for a moment.

 

“Shall I call up a storm?” Thor asked, looking worried. Loki shook his head.

 

“The rift must be close, we must make a run for it.” Loki insisted. There were uncomfortable looks traded between all of the Avengers. Robbie shuffled over onto the tree branch where Loki was sitting and carefully hefted him into a bridal carry.

 

“I’ll carry you. Tony, stay close. Clint and Bruce, take front and scout. Natasha and Thor, take the rear.”  Rogers ordered in a quiet firm tone. “Loki, can you feel where it is?” He asked.

 

Loki shook his head.

 

“It must be close but I cannot sense it.” He confessed.

 

“I saw it,” Thor said “It was near the edge of the forest where I landed. That way.” He pointed to their left.

 

Edges of the forest always never bode well with Loki. He didn’t like wide open spaces with endless nothing.

 

“You left a trail.” Thor said meaningfully. Loki looked away and didn’t reply.

 

“Let’s go.” Barton said, looking antsy. He was right to suggest so. They had no idea how long the rift would stay open. Rogers took a deep breath and jumped to the next branch.

 

Brian was balancing himself on the see-saw.

 

“You asked for this?” he handed Loki the tiny device. It was almost as thin as a pencil and fit snugly to the inside of Loki’s palm. Not that he would be holding it.

 

Loki fingered it gingerly, pressing the buttons.

 

“You sure it works?” he asked. Brian shrugged and poked at it.

 

_“You asked for this?..... You sure it works?”_

 

Their voices came filtering back, a little grainy but clear enough to discern who was who.

 

“Why do you need it anyway?” Brian asked. Loki shrugged nonchalantly.

 

“Right, cause you’re crazy.” Brian joked. It made Loki smile a little. He wasn’t sure if his plan was going to work but it was better than nothing. He gingerly slid the voice recorder into the waistband of his pants and pecked Brian on the lips.

 

“Thanks Chess. Hopefully if it goes well, we can see each other.” He smiled and loped off towards the house.

 

He was scheduled to see Dr. Ross today. Dr. Coulson said he would check back in a week to see how was Loki doing. The younger doctor seemed genuinely happy that Loki might be able to integrate back into society like a functional person. It made Loki think of him fondly.

 

Dr. Ross was reclining in his armchair when Loki entered. He looked up and smiled. Loki always thought that his smile was one of those ‘cold and professional’ ones but never gave it further consideration. After Dr. Coulson’s warm smiles, Loki found Dr. Ross- _UncleThad_ quite creepy.

 

“Hello, Loki.” Dr. Ross greeted.

 

“Hello... Uncle Thad.” Loki said quietly. The change was barely noticeable in the slight shift of Dr. Ross’s shoulders.

 

“You remember! I’m so glad, Loki!” Dr. Ross exclaimed, standing up to give Loki a hug. Loki lifted his arms and took a step back.

 

“Yes, Uncle Thad. I remember.” Loki paused. “Everything.”

 

“Everything?”

 

“I remember finding your boxes in the shed. I remember finding pictures in the boxes. I remember that you were hurting little boys and girls in the pictures.” Loki said softly. One of the girls might have been around Madison’s age. Loki wondered if Dr. Ross had done anything to her or not, or if he had ‘retired’ from that line of work.

 

“Why frame me?” Loki demanded. “Why kill Thor and frame me?”

 

Dr. Ross laughed, moving to stand behind the table.

 

“It was easy, Loki.” He sneered. “You were always a creepy little child, only ever wanting to be with his brother, following his brother, emulating his brother. Then if Thor ignored you, you’d hide yourself away with books and puzzles, never getting close to anyone else.”

 

Loki didn’t blink as he caught the soft rasp of the drawer. Dr. Ross continued to talk.

 

“I’m a certified psychiatrist. No one questioned me when I said it was you. No one believes little children, you see. And it was so easy to – alter – your medication. A little bit of stimulants, a little bit of hallucinogens some psychosis inducers. You woke up screaming about it and everyone just believed it.”

 

Loki tried not to pay attention to the hand Dr. Ross was sneaking into the drawer. He was betting that there was a knife or a gun or other things in there.

 

“You still do it, don’t you?” Loki said quietly. “The kids of the SSMHI, other kids in other institutions. You hurt them and then you doctor their pills so they don’t remember a thing.”

 

Bile rose up in his throat. He might have been one of those children. The mere thought of being touched like that made him sick to his stomach.

 

“Madison’s just a kid. _I_ was just a kid!”

 

Dr. Ross had the gall to laugh. “I just _love_ children, don’t you?” He sneered.

 

“The best thing is,” Dr. Ross said conversationally, moving out from behind the desk. “No one believes insane children.” His grin was positively terrifying.

 

“I’m not worried though, pretty soon, you’ll have a ‘relapse’. I’ll put you back on your medication and you’ll forget all about this.”

 

Loki ducked on instinct. It was just as well. Dr. Ross lunged at him, syringe glinting in his hand, probably filled with some hallucinogens or other bad drugs. Dr. Ross crashed into the bookcase and whirled around. Loki scrambled to his feet and fled, not bothering to try and fight. He turned tail and ran.

 

Trying to outrun Dr. Ross on foot was probably not a good idea. Even before he cleared the driveway and, Loki could already hear the car starting up in the driveway.

 

Fortunately for him, Brian came to a screeching stop in front of him on a motorcycle.

 

There was a part of Loki’s mind that screamed it was a really, really bad idea to get on the motorcycle with a kid who was barely fifteen and probably didn’t know how to drive. The other part just wanted to get the hell out of there.

 

He need not have worried though, because behind Brian came the squeal of two police motorcycles and a cop car. Loki extracted the recorder from his waistband and shoved it down Brian’s pants in a hurry.

 

“Keep it safe.” He hissed. Brian nodded.

 

“Kid, you’re under arrest for motorcycle theft, speeding and underage driving.” One of the cops declared as he stepped forward.

 

“Watch out!” The dulcet tones of Dr. Ross “The other boy is mentally unstable, he might lash out.”  He looked charming, believable for a moment. Loki shrugged and held his hands up, giving the policeman the biggest most ‘I’m crazy, indulge me’ look he could. The policeman looked taken aback.

 

“Before you arrest me.” Brian said, hopping of the motorcycle and taking Loki’s hand. He headed straight to the police car and stopped in front of the police officer.

 

“Listen to this.”

 

Brian hit play.

 

 

 

Finding the rift was easy, as compared to trying to get into it. There were all sorts of things prowling around the edge of the forest, just waiting for something to pop out from the rift.

 

Every now and then, something would come through and it would be snapped up by jaws or torn to pieces by claws of different animals. To make things worse, night was falling and there was no shelter. Even if there was, it would be a very, very bad idea to stay so near an origin of chaos. Right now, the creatures were more focused on the rift. Their little band of merry troublemakers were hidden in the lush foliage. But if they started to move towards it, all attention would turn to them.

 

“Any ideas, Brian?” Loki asked.  Tony gave him a sideways glance.

 

“Tony, I meant Tony.” Loki amended. The engineer shrugged, frowning as he contemplated their options. The burn mark on the lower half of his chest was obviously paining him but it wasn’t bad enough to distract him from concocting plans.

 

“How cold did it get last night?” Tony asked suddenly. Rogers answered for all of them.

 

“It was warm, why?”

 

“I’m guessing these puppies have never felt the cold.” Tony muttered. “What we’re going to do is Thor’s going to call hail and you’re going to shield us and while they’re skedaddling, we make a break for it.”

 

It was sound enough. Save for the fact that Loki was running low on magic and if he wanted to do anything like shield seven people from a hail storm, he was probably going to change back into Jotun form to save energy.

 

“Do you think you can do it?” Rogers asked him, looking worried. Loki nodded and scrambled out of his arms. He leaned on Rogers and took a deep breath.

 

“Stick very, very close, but don’t touch me.” He said. Everyone huddled close to him immediately, careful to leave a few inches of distance between bare skin. Thor wordlessly offered up the tattered remains of his cape to Loki.

 

It made a useful makeshift boot for his injured leg. Loki was grateful. He closed his eyes and relaxed the control he had over his magic.

 

He felt hot immediately, too hot. The air prickled at his skin. It was too humid, it choked him. The change drew the attention of a group of monkey like things. They gathered in the trees around the motley group, chattering away in the highest parts of the canopy. Tony swore under his breath.

 

“Do it!” Loki hissed. Thor raised his hammer and the strange ropey clouds gathered above them.  He slammed up his shield just as the first hail stone hit. It was the size of a baseball, perhaps, and it landed beside a cat like creature. The creature hissed at it, batting at the cold ball of ice and then retreating slightly. It started to hail in earnest. The monkeys launched themselves at the shield, screeching when they bounced off.

 

“Move!” Rogers shouted over the roar of the hail hitting the shield. Loki could feel every stone like a pinprick on his skin. He staggered as a particularly large one glanced off the barrier and hit a snake like creature sneaking up on them.

 

Their party shuffled forward gingerly, mindful to stay close but not too close. It drew the attention of a lot of things, slimy globs with rows and rows of serrated teeth, giant hulking mammoth-like beasts, scaly winged creatures that tried to dive bomb their crew. The distance between the edge of the forest and the rift could only be forty feet at the most. And yet it was the longest distance Loki had ever travelled.

 

The temperature was dropping rapidly. Tony was firing his working repulsor at the things that attempted to get through the hailstorm surrounding them. Rogers, Barton and Romanov were busy lobbing fallen hailstones and Thor was trying to coordinate his lightning strikes with the hail. Creatures roared and screeched at them, angry that their snack was fending them off.

 

Loki had no support and it was agony to put any pressure on his injured leg. Every single move was like fire lancing up his nerves.

 

He stumbled and fell to his knees.

 

A large green hand wrapped around his middle gently and lifted him up. Loki yelped, expecting to see the skin blacken and fall away. To his surprise, nothing happened. He looked up at the Hulk and nodded.

 

“Hurry.” The hulk growled. The rift was only a few feet away. Thor had called up the wind and it was whipping the sand around them into a sandstorm. With the hailstones mixed in, it was a dangerous hurricane with them right in the eye of it.

 

“Go.” Rogers said. Barton took Romanov’s hand and sprinted. Loki vaguely saw a hailstone connect with Barton’s side as he fell through the rift. Rogers nodded at Thor and Loki and the Hulk before hefting Tony into his arms and diving after the two assassins.

 

“Brother!” Loki shouted.

 

Thor funnelled one last blast of energy into the storm and launched himself at the portal. As soon as he disappeared into the swirling blackness, The Hulk followed suit.

 

There were many anticlimactic points in Loki’s life but this had to take the cake. He was plunged into water, the Hulk still holding him. His ankle flared hot and hurting from the contact with water.  There was a brief second where Loki was submerged then the Hulk stood up.

 

And birds chirped.

 

“Look, Mummy! It’s the Hulk!” A child shouted gleefully. Loki blinked water out of his eyes and turned to look.

 

Of all the places, they were in Central Park.

 

Loki let out a breath that he didn’t realise he had been holding. The sun was shining, birds were singing and there were white fluffy clouds. It was a perfect day.

 

It had been a perfect day outside when he had been framed for his brother’s murder.

 

It was kind of fitting that his brother’s murderer was arrested on such a day.

 

He watched as the police took Dr. Ross into custody.

 

“You’re still under arrest for joyriding.” The cop said to Brian. The younger boy pouted and whined but let himself be guided into another car and taken away.

 

Dr. Coulson came running up to Loki, looking out of breath.

 

“Ms. Naya called, said that there was a - ” He stared as the car with Dr. Ross drove off.

 

“He killed my brother. He’s been doctoring our medication.” Loki said without inflection.

 

“Congratulations then, Loki.” Dr. Coulson managed to say, looking confused but a little happy all the same. “That means that you’re not disturbed and didn’t kill your brother after all.”

 

Loki stared at him.

 

“Well you’re not responsible for his death,” Dr. Coulson patted his shoulder. “Doesn’t that make you happy?”

 

It probably should have made him happy. Happy that he wasn’t crazy. Yet on some level, he knew he was lying to himself.

 

“I’m running away.” He said softly, more to himself than to anyone else. Loki raised his head and looked at Dr. Coulson. The doctor had a look of patient confusion on his face.

 

“I’ve been trying to escape responsibility, trying to say it wasn’t my fault but the fact remains, this foe must be faced.” Loki said with more conviction. There were too many gaps in his memory, too many spaces for it to be truth.

 

“See, this is my Wonderland.” Loki said earnestly.

 

“And I can’t. Stay.”

 

 

 

 

There were a lot of guns pointed at him. Loki blinked as he realized this fact.

 

“Dr. Coulson.” He said. Phillip Coulson looked as calm and competent as ever, only his smile wasn’t as warm.

 

“Thank you for your help.” Loki said. He couldn’t stand up yet. His magic was too depleted to help him heal his leg.

 

“Two weeks,” Coulson said in an almost amicable manner. Loki wanted to slap him. “The Avengers disappeared for two weeks and it took three days to get rid of all the flying dragons.”  He added. Loki shrugged. The flying dragons had seemed so long ago.

 

“Can I see Brian?” He asked.

 

“He means me.” Brian elbowed his way to the front of the circle of agents and knelt beside Loki. They were a mess. In the bright sunlight, the burn scar looked worse than ever. It was between the last two ribs. It would make a great story.

 

“Are you alright?” he asked. Loki let _Brian_ -Tony help him up. Loki leaned on Tony as much as he dared. The smell of bitter herbs and ozone was refreshing.

 

“Look, Agent, he helped a lot. Can we get a medic before we do the arresting thing?” Tony asked. Coulson’s expression didn’t change.

 

“He’s a Class Two threat.” Coulson said calmly.

 

“This foe must be faced.” Loki murmured into Tony’s ear. He patted Tony’s back reassuringly and offered up his wrists to the Agent.

 

“Experience teaches best,” Loki said clearly. “I surrender.” He attempted to limp a step forward but his leg folded in protest. Tony dove for him and put an arm around his waist.

 

“I’ll take him into custody.” He said in a tone that booked no argument.

 

 

 

The thing was, Loki reflected as he sat in the comfortably padded cell with no privacy, that getting Dr. Ross arrested and going back through the rift had the same effect: He was taken into custody. If he really had been a crazed sixteen year-old, his parents would have taken back custody. Here, as a hardened criminal, he was in the custody of SHIELD.

 

Twenty four hours had passed and they were still treating him like glass, like he might break at any time or lash out at them. After disinfection, cleaning and proper meals, his foot resembled a foot once again, the gashes having filled out with tender flesh.

 

Thor seemed at odds with himself, not knowing whether to embrace the sudden change of heart Loki apparently had. Loki didn’t think too much about it. Names, the ones he remembered from his imagination, Robbie and Rogers or Madison and Natasha, especially Brian and Tony, kept interchanging in his mind whenever they came to visit. It would probably take some time for him to get them straight. Tony was the only one who didn’t seem that perturbed by it.

 

The trial, if there was going to be one, would be short, Loki decided. He would confess, take his punishment and attempt to right his wrongs.

 

“Forgive me if I don’t believe your, ‘ _change of heart’_ , Loki.” Fury said as he stood, hands clasped behind his back. Loki lifted and dropped a shoulder inelegantly, abstractly wondering why he hadn’t made a Fury substitute in his imagination.

 

“Threats, promises and good intentions, don’t amount to action,” Loki admitted. “I’m a conflagration waiting to happen but I don’t want to escape it. I must stop it.”

 

“You’re as randomly lethal and as entirely confused as you ever were,” Fury growled. “See, Romanov and Barton did a basic psych evaluation when they were with you and they’re of the opinion that you’re not sane enough to try properly in court.”

 

“That never stopped the Allfather,” Loki said amicably. “What will my punishment be?”

 

“I’d rather lock you up for an eternity but the team thinks you’d benefit more from community service and SHIELD psychiatrists.” Fury was clearly against the idea. Loki caught sight of the team emerging from the doors, gathering on the other side of his clear walled prison. All of them gave him tired, strained smiles.

 

Tony stepped forward pressed his hand against the wall.

 

Loki smiled as he mirrored the movement.

 

“Perhaps things haven’t gone to hell after all.”

 


End file.
